OPMA 5364

Project Management

Part 3
Project Teams
and Project Conflict

Topic Outline: Project Teams & Project Conflict

Characteristics of effective team members

Effective managerial styles
Project Team exercise
Conflict and project management
Common sources of conflict
Scope creep
Root causes of conflict
Conflict resolution approaches
Negotiation skills
Conflict exercise
Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict

Selecting the Project Team

At what point is the project team formed?
Who should select the project team?
What types of people should be on the team?
How do the team members get started?

Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict

Characteristics of Effective Teams

An effective project team has:
A clear understanding of the project objective
Clear expectations of each persons role and
responsibilities
A results orientation
A high degree of cooperation and collaboration
An atmosphere of open communication
A high level of trust
Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict

Barriers to Team Effectiveness

Unclear goals
Unclear definitions of roles and responsibilities
Lack of project structure
Lack of commitment by team members
Poor communication
Poor leadership
Turnover of team members
Dysfunctional behavior
Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict

Teams are Most Effective When:

There are 10 or fewer members on the team

Members volunteer to serve on the team
Members serve on the project from beginning to end
Members are assigned to the project full time
Organization culture fosters cooperation and trust
Members report solely to the project manager
All relevant functional areas are represented on team
The project involves a compelling objective
Members are located within conversational distance of
each other
Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict

Stages of Team Development

Forming: transition from individual to team member
enthusiasm; anticipation; uncertainty; anxiety
Storming: try to figure out team environment
discomfort; frustration; resistance; anger; tension
Norming: adjust and conform to team environment
acceptance; cohesion; camaraderie; cooperation
Performing: team is now highly effective
committed; eager; unity; satisfaction; pride;
confidence; openness; interdependent; empowered
Adjourning: wrap-up, prepare to disband
pride; sadness; uncertainty; projectitis
Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict

Characteristics of Effective
Team Members

Technically competent
Good problem-solving abilities
Goal orientation
Politically sensitive
Credibility
Availability
Ambition, initiative, and energy
High self-esteem
Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict

Effective Team Members

Help create a positive and effective environment

Plan, control, and feel accountable for their work
Have high expectations of themselves
Manage their time well
Make things happen, not just let them happen
Are self-directed and follow through on actions
Take pride in doing quality work
Participate and communicate with the team
Provide constructive feedback to each other
Old saying: Theres no I in TEAM
Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict

Team Building Ideas

Encourage socializing among team members.
Why?
Locate team member work areas close together.
Why?
Periodically hold team meetings, as opposed to
project meetings, to discuss ideas for the team
to be more effective

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Management Styles
Project managers must delegate responsibilities,
coordinate work, and supervise and motivate
team members
Most people believe that a participative
management style works best with project teams
This style give more empowerment to team
members and allows them to be more selfdirected
A participative style with team empowerment
requires less supervision by the PM
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Project Team Exercise

The Madison Project case
Divide into groups
Read case (10 min.)
Assignment (25 min.)
Should the key people be supported to preserve the
team during the lull period?
What should Nancy Li do now?
From Nancys perspective, what could she have done
differently to avoid having the management reserve
fund being swept away by her boss?
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Whos to Blame?
Authority, responsibility, and accountability
The PM is responsible and accountable for project
success.
Unfortunately, the PM often does not have
authority over personnel or use of resources
This requires the PM to be creative and skillful at
influencing and motivating others
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The Art of Persuasion

Must have credibility with the person
Common goals must be found
Use vivid language and compelling evidence
Must connect with the emotions of those they
want to persuade
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Conflict and Project Management

Conflict is inevitable; PM should expect conflict
PM can anticipate and avoid some conflicts;
others must be managed and resolved
PM can learn different approaches for managing
and resolving conflict; its a learned skill
Fast conflict resolution is key to project success
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Recent Examples of Conflict

Has anyone been part of a project conflict or had
a conflict occur in their project recently?
Can you briefly describe the conflict and how it
was resolved?

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Effective Communication
The PM controls the project communication
system
All parties should be kept updated about their
areas of interest with the project
Email, phone calls, faxes, meetings, letters, and
websites are all useful means of communication
By facilitating effective communication with
stakeholders and participants, the PM can avoid
many conflicts
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A Breakdown in Communication
(Source unknown)

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Common Sources of Conflict

Work scope
Resource assignments
Schedule
Costs
Technical opinions
Priorities of resource time
Administrative procedures
Responsibilities
Personality clashes
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Scope Creep
Scope creep refers to the work scope being
enlarged as the project progresses
Scope creep can cause conflicts due to insufficient
resources or time to do the additional work
PM should be cautious about scope creep
A change control system can be helpful
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Reasons for Scope Creep

Client wants a different feature or additional
functionality
Project team comes up with a way to improve
the project outcomes
Senior management wants the project to do
something extra
Engineering enhances a design component
A new technology becomes available
A new government regulation is mandated
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Root Cause of Conflict

The PM has final responsibility to resolve or
manage any conflict that affects project success.
The PM should focus on identifying the root cause
of the conflict and not the symptoms, so the
conflict will not recur.
For example, suppose two people are yelling at
each other during a meeting. Asking them to not
yell fixes the symptom, but not the root cause of
the conflict, which may be a difference of opinion
about an issue due to different assumptions
being made by each person.
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Some Root Causes of Conflict

Facts: People see the same fact from distinctly
different viewpoints
Methods: People disagree on how to do
something
Goals: The goals toward which people work are
different
Values: People differ in their basic values

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Functional vs. Dysfunctional Conflict

Encourage Functional Conflict

sharing different opinions or points of view

debating two sides of an issue
playing the devils advocate
all sides should show mutual respect

Resolve Dysfunctional Conflict

may create negative tension for all team members

may lead to irrational personality clashes
situation may get worse and result in project delay
resolve as soon as possible
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Managing Dysfunctional Conflict

5 Alternative Approaches to Managing Conflict:
Mediate the conflict negotiate a solution
emphasize urgency for the sake of project success

Arbitrate the conflict impose a solution

do what is best for project success
try to allow both sides to save face

Control the conflict reduce tensions; How?

Accept it sometimes, learn to work around it
Eliminate the conflict if no longer tolerable
remove one or both members from team
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Personal Conflict Styles

Avoiding not raising or addressing the conflict issue
Accommodating seeking to satisfy the other persons
concerns at the expense of your own
Competing using whatever seems appropriate to win
your own position
Collaborating working with the other person to find a
solution that fully satisfies both your own concerns and
those of the other person
Compromising seeking a middle-ground position that
provides partial satisfaction for both parties
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Negotiation Skills
The PM must frequently negotiate on different
issues with different parties
Negotiating is an art, and you get better with
practice
Its better if both parties feel good about the
negotiation experience after its over. Why?
Good interpersonal skills can be helpful in
making the other party feel okay with the results,
even if they are not just what they wanted
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Principled Negotiation
(Fisher and Ury, Getting to Yes, 1983)

1. Separate the people from the problem

2. Focus on interests, not positions
3. Before trying to reach agreement, invent
options for mutual gain
4. Use objective criteria when possible
The key to finding a negotiators interests and
concerns is to ask Why? when they state a
position
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